Cigarette perforating apparatus

ABSTRACT

A MECHANISM FOR PREFORATING CIGARETTES IN CONJUCTION WITH THE OPERATION OF ASSEMBLING FILTER SECTIONS TO THE CIGARETTES INCLUDING THE APPLICATION OF A TIPPING WRAP CONNECTING THE FILTER SECTION TO THE TOBACCO ROD SECTION THE MECHANISM EMBODYING A STATIONARY SHOE PERIPHERALLY ADJACENT A CIGARETTE CARRIER DRUM WHEREBY THE TIPPING PAPER IS WRAPPED AROUND THE SECTIONS BY ROLLING THE ROD SECTIONS BETWEEN THE DRUM AND SHOE, THE SHOE HAVING IN ITS SURFACE NEEDLE POINTS WHICH PENETRATE THE ROD ASSEMBLY AS IT IS ROLLED, THE NEEDLE POINTS BEING PROVIDED BY A THIN STRIP OF SHEET METAL APPROPRIATELY GROUND AT AN EDGE FACING THE ROD SECTIONS TO PROVIDE AN ARC-SHAPED ROW OF NEEDLES ADAPTED TO RESULT IN A PERIPHERAL ROW OF VENTING APERTURES IN THE ASSEMBLED CIGARETTE.

United States Patent Pasquine et al.

[54] CIGARETTE PERFORATING APPARATUS [72] Inventors: Arthur R, Pasquinet llarland J.

5 Snow, both of Richmond; and Edward E. Wagner, Chester, all of [22] Filed: Dec. 9, 1970 [21]. Appl.No.:96,486

I52] U.S. CI. ..l3l/23R, l3l/94. l3l/l70R, 131/254 [51] int. Cl. ..A24c 5/02, A24c 5/46 [58] Field of Search ..13 l/170, 23R, 94, 254, 253

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,483,873 12/1969 Hinzmann ..13l/170X 3,250,279 5/1966 Risk ..13l/l70 2,694,392 11/1954 Parkeretal ..131/170 1,740,606

FQREJQN VPAIENIS .QRAPPL AI O S 568,651' 7/1958 Belgium ..131/254 Primary Examiner-Samuel Koren Assistant Examiner-.l. F. Pitrelli Attorney-Watson, Leavenworth & Kelton [5 7] ABSTRACT A mechanism for perforating cigarettes in conjunction with the operation of assembling filter sections to the cigarettes including the applicatign of a tipping wrap connecting the filter section to the tobacco rod section the mechanism embodying a stationary shoeperipherally adjacent a cigarette carrier drum whereby l2ll92 Knudsen ..(l31/170 UXR) the tipping paper is wrapped around the sections by rolling the rod sections between the drum and shoe, the shoe having in its surface needle points which penetrate the rod assembly as it is rolled, the needle points being provided by a thin strip of sheet metal appropriately ground at an edge facing the rod sec tions to provide an arc-shaped row of needles adapted to result in a peripheral row of venting apertures in the assembled cigarette.

14 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures CIGARETTE PERFORATING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the manufacture of vented cigarettes particularly of the filter tip type according to one procedure and type of machine a double filter section is positioned between a pair of tobacco rod sections all in coaxial alignment and the combined unit has adhesively attached thereto at the mid section a tipping paper section and the unit is carried around a drum past an arc-shaped shoe positioned adjacent to but spaced from the periphery of the drum an appropriate distance such that the unit is given a rolling action which wraps the tipping paper about the filter section overlapping at each side onto the respective cigarette rod sections. Subsequently the unit is cut through at its midpoint resulting in a pair of filter tipped cigarettes.

Where a vented cigarette is desired the unit or sections thereof are brought into contact at some region of the operation with needles which puncture venting holes in the wrapper. In one type of apparatus the rod unit is rolled past two rows of needles appropriately located in the rolling shoe to provide a peripheral row of venting holes near the ultimate mouth end of each cigarette, the perforating means comprising a series of individual pointed needles generally similar to steel phonograph needles inserted through holes in a mounting plate or block located in the surface of the rolling shoe. The forming and hardening of such small individual needles is difficult to control and their assembly in a holding plate is a meticulous operation.

THE PRESENT INVENTION According to the present invention the perforating needles are provided in the form of a thin flat strip which has one edge appropriately ground to form a row of integrally connected needles. The number of strips employed depends upon the rows of perforations desired. In the present disclosure of a machine of the type'described above for forming a double cigarette unit two such strips are mounted in a block positioned in the surface of the rolling shoe. By using pretreated stock the hardness can be uniform and carefully controlled to the very tip of the needles. The strip does not tend to break and lasts longer in cigarette production. Gang-grinding of a stack of the strips permits the fabrication of a large number of uniform strips in one simultaneous operation. The shape and size of the points can be better controlled when grinding the strips compared with individual needle sharpening. The size for example can be varied easily either in the grinding or in the thickness of the strip.

The invention further contemplates structural features of advantage in supporting and securing the strips in proper position in the rolling shoe and in relation to a cigarette drum carrier.

Other features and advantages will be made apparent from a consideration of a representative embodiment as described hereinafter and shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary showing of a cigarette assembling machine embodying a rolling shoe and perforating means of the character comprising the present invention;

FIG. 1A is a view of a perforated double cigarette unit made by the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of the insert block by itself embodying the perforating means;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the plane III-III of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on the plane IV-IV of FIG. 2 but on a considerably enlarged scale.

In FIG. 1 there is shown in part a machine of the general type adapted to embody the perforating means of the present invention. In its general features it is like that of the patent to Hinzmann No. 3,527,234. A more complete disclosure of a cigarette assembling machine of the same general type is contained in the patent to K. Korber et al. No. 2,902,040 except in the machine of that patent the tipping or joining paper is wrapped around the double cigarette unit by a finger arrangement rather than by a rolling action as in the case of the patent to Hinzmann and the present invention.

In a machine of the character here concerned two cigarette tobacco rod sections 10 and an intervening double filter length 11 are brought into end to end abutting relation with a tipping wrap 12 applied joining the two tobacco rod sections and the intervening filter rod section. Normally the filter rod section 11 will have had applied previously thereto a wrapper 13 shown broken away in FIG. 1A. Concurrently with the rolling of the tipping paper 12 about the double unit, and in the same operation of the present machine, two peripheral rows of perforations 15 are made through the tipping paperand the filter rod wrapper 13. Subsequently a cut 16 is made across the unit severing it into two independent cigarettes.

As in the machines disclosed in the above cited two patents units comprising an assembly of the two tobacco rod sections and the intervening filter rod section without the tipping paper 12 are inserted in successive peripheral grooves of a transfer drum 20 at some point such as indicated at 21. A continuous strip of tipping paper 22 is fed onto the anvil drum 23, the outer surface of the strip at drum 23 carrying an adhesive glue layer. A star-shaped cutter 24 separates the tipping paper strip into sections 25 and a section 25 is caused to adhere to each of the cigarette units 26 on the transfer drum 20 and are cam'ed around past the enclosing shroud 27 to where they are transferred to grooves in the rolling drum 30 being held therein by suitable suction means indicated generally at 31, the details of which are disclosed more fully in the patent to Hinzmann 3,527,234 cited above. The units are carried on the drum in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 32 to where they are brought under the rolling shoe 34 fixed on the frame 35 the suction at this area being released from the cigarette units. Underneath the shoe 34 the cigarettes leave their respective grooves in the rolling drum 30 and are given a rolling action underneath the shoe 34 which wraps the tipping paper 12 around the double unit.

The rolling shoe 34 embodies the perforating means which will now be described. It comprises a block 40 inset in the face of the rolling shoe. The surfaces of the rolling shoe and of the insert block 40 facing the rolling drum 30 have a concave cylindrical shape with a radius about the axis 41 of the rolling drum 30, the surface of the block40 merging with that of the rolling shoe 34. Secured in the block 40 are two perfgratirrg strips 42 The strips 42 are locked in place by rotary eccentric members 44 of which there are preferably two for each strip. Each eccentric member is mounted in an opening 46 in the block 40 the member 44 including a larger cylindrical part 47 rotatable in an enlarged part of the opening 46, suitable means being provided for rotation of the eccentric such as the screwdriver notch 48. The member 44 includes the cylindrical portion 49 eccentrically located with respect to the enlarged head 47 whereby rotation of the member clamps the strip in its slot. As indicated in FIG. 2 two strips are laterally spaced suitably to form a row of perforations 15 in each of the ultimate individual'cigarettes. The block 40 is so positioned that the strips 42 extend in the direction of peripheral movement of the surface of the rolling drum 30 so as to form two rows of perforations 15 combined rod unit may be effected by other surface combinations and the rows of perforations varied and located at different areas andof different arrangement as for example the perforations may be located in the cigarette rod section rather than in the filter rod section and filters of different types may be employed or omitted altogether. Accordingly, since variations in the apparatus and the product can be made without departing from the scope of the invention it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigarette handling machine a cigarette rod rolling shoe, a cigarette rod carrier relatively movable adjacent thereto and appropriately spaced to produce a rolling of the cigarette rod along the surface of the shoe, and perforating means comprising a strip re- 0 movably and replaceably mounted in the surface of extending peripherally of the cigarettes resulting in one row in each of the two cigarettes. More strips may readily be employed if more perforations are desired as for example two rows in each cigarette.

Different materials may be selected for the strips. Preheated spring steel stock has been found especially useful which may have a grain extending transversely of its length as indicated generally at 43 in FIG. 3. The hardnes s is carefully controlled and uniform to the extreme points of the needles. The strips are ground at one edge to form a row of needles 50, the grinding operation being so applied as to result in the needle points 51 being arranged 652m arc corresponding to the inner face of the rolling shoe and the block 40. In the present instance each of the strips has six needle points resulting in a corresponding number of perforations in the periphery of the cigarettes. Conveniently the strips 42 can be gang-' ground in a stack. The grinding operation may be varied readily to produce the desired shaped individual needles. They may be in the form of an inverted V or as shown in FIG. 3 they may be straight sided wi .asl uh e ra fsir l reve firftl ilatter being shown at 51 in FIG. 3. Since the strip is of a uniform thickness the straight sided needles assure 50 perforations of uniform size. Further to the foregoing the thickness of the strips may of course be varied depending upon the circumstances including particularly the size of perforation desired. Normally the thickness of the strip should be less than about .015 of an inch, but more commonly thinner than that and as a specific example in the range of about .008 of an inch in thickness. It will beunderstood that the dimensions shown in FIG. 4 are somewhat exaggerated in the interest of clarity. As appears in FIG. 4 60 the rear face 53 of the eccentric member 44 is flush shoe 34 the block being held in shoe 34 by screws extending through openings 55 in the block.

It will be understood that the present embodiment of the invention is representative and rolling of the the shoe, said strip having integral therewith a row of needles aligned in the direction of said relative movement positioned to pierce and form a peripheral row of apertures in the cigarette rod wrapper.

2. I a cigarette handling machine according to claim 1 iii which the cigarette rod carrier comprises, a circular drum rotatable about an axis with a peripheral surface movable adjacent said shoe, and the shoe has an adjoining rolling surface and the needle points are on a radius respectively about the axis of said drum.

3. In a cigarette handling machine according to claim 1 in which a pair of cigarette tobacco rods with an intervening double filter rod section all in abutting axial relation are moved as a unit in peripheral grooves of the drum with a tipping paper section attached to the intermediate section, the tipping paper being wrapped around the unit in its movement past said shoe, and said shoe being provided with a pair of said needle point strips spaced to form a pair of rows of perforations in said unit.

4. In a cigarette rod rolling shoe a perforating means for forming a peripheral row of venting perforations in the cigarette wrapper comprising, a strip having integral therewith a row of needles said strip being removably and replaceably secured in the shoe with the needles projecting from the surface of the shoe to engage the cigarette rod as it advances past the shoe- 5. A perforating means in accordance with claim 4 in which the needles are formed in a steel strip preheated for hardness prior to the shaping of the n d es- 6. A perforating means in accordance with claim 4 in which said strip has a thickness less than about -9 .Q.f.%!1, iE9. l-.-. Y

7. A perforating means in accordance with claim 4 in which said strip and the row of needles extend in the direction of the rod advance past the shoe to form a peripheral row of perforations in the cigarette rod ERE? 8. A perforating means in accordance with claim 7 which includes two such strips spaced apart to form 0 .two corresponding peripheral rows of holes in the cigarette rod wrapper.

9. In a cigarette rod rolling shoe, a thin flat strip with a row of needles on one edge integral with the strip and means for securing the strip in a part of the shoe comprising a slot in said part in which the strip is located with the needles pointed out of the slot beyond the face of the shoe, and a rotatable eccentric mounted adjacent said strip adapted upon rotation to engage the adjacent face of the strip and clamp it in the slot.

10. A cigarette rod rolling shoe in accordance with claim 9 in which the shoe has a concave arcuate surface with the extreme points of the needles projecting therefrom and arranged on an arc corresponding substantially to the arcuate surface of the shoe.

11. A cigarette rod rolling shoe in accordance with claim 9 in which said shoe part comprises a block removably secured in said shoe with the strip secured 10 and clamp it in its slot.

in the blockfthe eipas'e'd surfaces? thblbk merging with the said face of the shoe.

13. A cigarette rod rolling shoe in accordance with claim 12 in which said block is seated in a recess in the face of the shoe, the recess having a bottom wall for preventing rearward escape of said member.

14. A cigarette rod rolling shoe in accordance with claim 9 provided with a pair of similar rotatably mounted eccentrics spaced apart to engage the face of the strip adjacent its ends respectively.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORREQWON Patent No. 3,701,353 Dated October 31, 1972 Inventor(s) Arthur R. Pasquine; Harland J. Snow; and

Edward E. Wagner I It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Title page, after Item [72] insert 73] Assignee: Philip Morris Incorporated, New York, N.Y.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of April 1973 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM PC4050 H069) uscoMM-Dc soave-pes Y 11.5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE! 1959 03G6-334v 

